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Duty to the Crown by Aimie K. Runyan

Duty to the Crown (Daughters of New France 2) by Aimie K. Runyan

Set amid the promise and challenge of the first Canadian colonies, Aimie K. Runyan’s vividly rendered novel provides a fascinating portrait of the women who would become the founding mothers of New France.

In 1677, an invisible wall separates settlers in New France from their Huron neighbors. Yet whether in the fledgling city of Quebec or within one of the native tribes, every woman’s fate depends on the man she chooses—or is obligated—to marry.

Although Claudine Deschamps and Gabrielle Giroux both live within the settlement, their prospects are very different. French-born Claudine has followed her older sister across the Atlantic hoping to attract a wealthy husband through her beauty and connections. Gabrielle, orphan daughter of the town drunkard, is forced into a loveless union by a cruel law that requires her to marry by her sixteenth birthday. And Manon Lefebvre, born in the Huron village and later adopted by settlers, has faced the prejudices of both societies and is convinced she can no longer be accepted in either. Drawn into unexpected friendship through their loves, losses, and dreams of home and family, all three women will have to call on their bravery and resilience to succeed in this new world… (publisher)

This book follows Manon, Gabrielle and Claudine who we met in the last book.

All the girls are from different backgrounds but they all have their lives intertwined. Manon is back with the Lefebvre family after being cast out by her Huron village. Both the Hurons and the French treat her with suspicion. Claudine becomes to live with her sister at the Lefebvre mansion and has big dreams about finding a young, handsome and rich husband. Gabrielle works at her adoptive parents’ bakery and dreams about becoming a seamstress.

I loved to see how the girls changed during the time. Claudine became from a silly girl into a devoted mother and realizes that she might have to lower her standards with life and getting a husband. Gabrielle went from an alcoholic and abusive father to an abusive husband but manages to change her life and finds love in her life. Manon finds her life between two very different worlds and found love and family.